Violent protests have broken out at UC Berkeley

[superbeets]

[h=1]Protesters tear down barricades and set fires during furious protests against speech by conservative Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley[/h]

• Violent protests have broken out at UC Berkeley
• Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor from Breitbart News, will speak at UC Berkeley
• The visit is sponsored by the campus Republican club and UCB stressed it did not invite him
• On Tuesday night at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, his speech was met with dozens of protesters
• University officials say he will be allowed in name of free speech as will protests
• Berkeley's Chancellor said Yiannopoulous 'uses odious behavior in part to 'entertain' but also to deflect any serious engagement with ideas'

By HANNAH PARRY FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
PUBLISHED: 02:38, 2 February 2017 | UPDATED: 02:47, 2 February 2017

 

[superbeets]

Protesters have torn down barricades, let off fireworks and thrown rocks during furious protests against speech by conservative Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley.
Police reportedly opened fire on demonstrators using non-lethal bullets during the uproar on campus in California.
Yiannopoulos's speech been cancelled amid the chaos and he has been evacuated, according to a post on his social media.
The 32-year-old right-wing provocateur is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and a self-proclaimed internet troll whose comments have been criticized as racist, misogynist, anti-Muslim and white supremacist. He was banned from Twitter after leading a harassment campaign against 'Ghostbusters' actress Leslie Jones.

+7


Protesters have torn down barricades and set fires during furious protests against speech by conservative Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley

+7


Police reportedly opened fire on demonstrators using non-lethal bullets during the uproar on campus in California

UC Police, Berkeley confirmed that the campus was on lockdown.
'Milo event cancelled. Shelter in place if on campus. All campus buildings on lockdown. #miloatcal,' they tweeted.
Several of Yiannopoulos' talks at other campuses have been canceled due to protests or security reasons.
The Breitbart editor wrote on Facebook that he and his team were safe after being evacuated from campus.
'I have been evacuated from the UC Berkeley campus after violent left-wing protestors tore down barricades, lit fires, threw rocks and Roman candles at the windows and breached the ground floor of the building,' he wrote.

 

[superbeets]

'My team and I are safe. But the event has been cancelled. I'll let you know more when the facts become clear. One thing we do know for sure: the Left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down.'
The University of California at Berkeley had been bracing for major protests Wednesday ahead of Yiannopoulos' arrival - the last stop of his Dangerous F****t Tour tonight aimed at defying what he calls an 'epidemic of political correctness on college campuses.'
His visit to Berkeley is sponsored by the campus Republican club. The university has stressed it did not invite Yiannopoulos and does not endorse his ideas but is committed to free speech and rejected calls to cancel the event.
On Wednesday, the university sent a notice to all students that warned of crowds near the student union, where the 500-seat, sold-out event was scheduled.
'We anticipate there will be major protest/ demonstration activity leading up to and surrounding this event,' the letter from school officials said. It did not discourage protests but advised those who didn't wish to participate to avoid the area.
Pieter Sittler, a spokesman for the Berkeley College Republicans, said the club doesn't support everything Yiannopoulos says but 'he gives a voice to repressed conservative thought on American college campuses.' He uses 'levity and humor' that should not be taken literally, Sittler said.
Yiannopoulos' talks have sparked protests, shouting matches and occasional violence at stops around the country. A man was shot and wounded at protests outside his Jan. 21 talk at the University of Washington.
Rowdy protests at UC Davis Jan. 13 prompted campus Republicans to cancel his appearance last minute. His last stop was supposed to be UCLA on Thursday but the invitation was rescinded, making Berkeley his grand finale.
His scheduled visit Wednesday to the University of California at Berkeley has raised an issue facing campuses across America at the dawn of the Trump presidency: What is the line between free speech and hate speech?
The visit is sponsored by the campus Republican club.

 

[Greenbacks]

Fucking trouble makers....Everyday

 

[superbeets]

Milo Yiannopoulos was due to speak at the University of California at Berkeley before the violent protests broke out

 

[superbeets]

+7


The polarizing editor from Breitbart News is a self-proclaimed internet troll who has been criticized as racist, misogynist and white supremacist (pictured speaking at California Polytechnic State University)

The university has stressed it did not invite Yiannopoulos, a right-wing provocateur who is gay and calls his event 'The Dangerous F****t Tour.'
The potential for physical danger in reaction to Yiannopoulos came into the spotlight this month after a man was shot and wounded at a protest outside his January 21 University of Washington talk.
Rowdy protests at UC Davis January 13 prompted campus Republicans to cancel his appearance at the last minute.
On Tuesday night at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, his speech was met with dozens of angry protesters outside a campus theater, but they were outnumbered by police who kept them far from the nearly 500 attendees and the event went on as planned.
His last stop was supposed to be UCLA on February 2, but that invitation was rescinded, making Berkeley the grand finale of his cross-country campus tour.
Professors have joined hundreds of students calling for the event's cancellation.
But university officials say it will be allowed in the name of free speech - as will protests that Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks expects could be 'substantial' amid tight security.
'In our view, Mr. Yiannopoulos is a troll and provocateur who uses odious behavior in part to 'entertain,' but also to deflect any serious engagement with ideas,' Dirks wrote last week to Berkeley's staff and 37,500 students.

 

[superbeets]

+7


Berkeley officials say it will be allowed in the name of free speech - as will protests that Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks expects could be 'substantial' amid tight security

'He has been widely and rightly condemned for engaging in hate speech.'
But as a public university, Berkeley's administrators are legally bound by the First Amendment to protect free speech, meaning even offensive and hate speech cannot be banned or censored, Dirks said.
'We are defending the right to free expression at an historic moment for our nation, when this right is once again of paramount importance,' Dirks said.
His letter did not name President Donald Trump, whom Yiannopoulos supports, but highlighted concerns at Berkeley and elsewhere since his election.
The Berkeley Republican Club says it has no plans to cancel the event because that would send a message that intimidation and violence can win.
'We don't support everything he's said or done,' said Pieter Sittler, 19, a sophomore who is the club's vice president.
'But we think it's important to have a complete political discourse. Not just stay in an echo chamber and silence what you disagree with.'
The event's 500 seats sold out about 48 hours after the event was announced last fall, Sittler said.
Yiannopoulos 'gives a voice to repressed conservative thought on American college campuses,' Sittler said, adding that he uses 'levity and humor' that should not be taken literally.
Administrators say the demands to stifle Yiannopoulos show that modern sensitivities are changing the debate about free speech on campus.
What used to be a campaign to allow all voices risks becoming more restrictive.

 

[superbeets]

The number of attempts to keep speakers off college campuses because of their politics doubled last year, according to a report issued late last year by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education.
It logged a record 42 incidents of 'disinvitations,' with 25 percent aimed at Yiannopoulos.
'The increasing unwillingness to allow anyone on campus to hear ideas with which one disagrees poses a grave risk to students' intellectual development,' Ari Cohn, director of the foundation's Individual Rights Defense Program, said in a statement.
Administrators have received hundreds of letters and emails calling for the event's cancellation.
There's a 'No Milo' at Berkeley Facebook page with more than 3,500 people signed on, calling for a 'mass counter protest' to shut down the event.
Nearly 100 professors signed a letter to the chancellor urging him to cancel the event. It cited some of Yiannopoulos' earlier comments.

 

[superbeets]

• SHARE PICTURE

​

+7


Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks said: 'In our view, Mr. Yiannopoulos is a troll and provocateur who uses odious behavior in part to 'entertain,' but also to deflect any serious engagement with ideas'

 

[superbeets]

+7


His speech at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo was met with dozens of angry protesters outside a campus theater, but they were outnumbered by police who kept them back

At the University of Delaware, Yiannopoulos referred to transgender people as 'mentally ill' and encouraged his audience to mock them.
He has called Black Lives Matter a form of 'black supremacism.'
Twitter banned him in July, as it cracked down on racist abuse targeting 'Ghostbusters' actress Leslie Jones.
At Western Carolina University he called feminism, 'a mean, vindictive, spiteful, nasty, man-hating philosophy.'
'The university should not provide a platform for such harassment,' the letter from professors said. 'We support robust debate, but we cannot abide by harassment, slander, defamation and hate speech.'
Yiannopoulos rejects accusations he is racist or white supremacist, saying his boyfriend is black and his humor is taken too literally in today's politically correct culture.
A group of veterans from Berkeley's 1960s Free Speech Movement praised administrators for allowing the event.
'Even the worst kind of bigot, including Yiannopoulos, must be allowed to speak on campus,' they wrote in In an op-ed published by Berkeley's The Daily Californian.

 

[superbeets]

censorship by violence


this cannot stand.

 

[superbeets]

CNN just said "violent left wing protesters" - did the world just turn upside down and the truth matters?

 

[superbeets]

Milo is awesome. The left hate him because he doesn't think the way they want him to think.

 

[Greenbacks]

Scumbags destroying property

 

[superbeets]

app-facebook

Milo Yiannopoulos
52 minutes ago




I have been evacuated from the UC Berkeley campus after violent left-wing protestors tore down barricades, lit fires, threw rocks and Roman candles at the windows and breached the ground floor of the building. My team and I are safe. But the event has been cancelled. I'll let you know more when the facts become clear. One thing we do know for sure: the Left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down.

 

[superbeets]

UC Police, Berkeley confirmed that the campus was on lockdown. 'Milo event cancelled. Shelter in place if on campus. All campus buildings on lockdown. #miloatcal,' they tweeted

The Breitbart editor wrote on Facebook that he and his team were safe after being evacuated from campus

 

[superbeets]

• SHARE PICTURE

​

+15


Yiannopoulos said he witnessed protester breach the ground floor of the building

+15


Protesters also set fires, tore down barricades, lit fires, threw rocks and Roman candles at the windows

+15


Riot police were called out to subdue hundreds of students at the Wednesday night protest

+15


Police say they have called in extra resources to deal with the 'violent demonstration'

+15


Protests began earlier today as students took to the campus with flags and placards

+15


People carry a banner which reads 'Queens back back' at the protest over the appearance of Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos on Wednesday

+15


The university had said it was ready for the demonstration, with tight security

 

[superbeets]

If you don't like Milo, you don't attend the speech , it is freedom of choice.

But you don't stop him from speaking.


UC BERKELEY the home of FREE SPEECH. LOL

 

[texansfan]

Sorry, but if your kid is out there, you've failed as a parent.

 

[busterhyman]

so-you are still a protester-after setting things on fire and throwing rocks and destroying property.